Minister Vic Fedeli speaks with members of Innovation Factory on Friday, January 13. Photo credit: Innovation Factory
Capping off a busy week for the Ontario Government in Hamilton, Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade, visited Hamilton’s Innovation Factory this past Friday to celebrate the recent investment announcement of $2.4 million to support the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (CITM).
Innovation Factory, a not-for-profit business accelerator that was established in 2011, is home to the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (CITM), which helps companies advance their electric and autonomous vehicle innovations.
The investment will allow the CITM to expand programs and services to advance the future of the automotive, transportation, smart infrastructure, and energy industries.
CITM was established in 2018 as part of the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), led by the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) through the Government of Ontario.
Fedeli’s tour of the facility, located on Longwood Road South near Aberdeen Avenue and the 403, included a demonstration of their Smart Transportation Network, a multi-site, live test environment that provides real-world smart city sensor, intersection, environmental, and other data to innovators.
OVIN was established to provide business and technology advisory services, resources, and collaboration opportunities to start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are developing smart and sustainable transportation innovations.
CITM hopes to use the investment to expand to offer support for innovators building solutions in areas related to electrified transportation powertrains, energy distribution systems, and infrastructure.
Minister Fedeli commented that the “government is proud to support business accelerators like Innovation Factory, who are helping Ontario-based innovators, start-ups, and small and medium-sized enterprises focused on electrified, connected, and autonomous vehicle innovations.”
Hamilton East-Stoney Creek MPP Neil Lumsden also commented.
“Our government is investing in cutting-edge technology to prepare Hamilton and Ontario for the future. Our focus on innovation and entrepreneurship is building Ontario’s economy, encouraging job growth, and positioning our province to be an economic leader, both today and tomorrow.”
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
